They are not hard to take off at all. The way I do it is I take a dull pocket knife and remove them. The only hard part is right where the fletching is. I would recomend that you cut the vains off first then slowly start stripping away the flecting in the same type motion you would peel a carrot. It will leave a sticky residue though so once you get all of the sticker off I use a product called Goo Gone. You can buy it at any Wal-Mart it works wonders. Any ways spray some on a rag and rub onto the shaft and Walla!! you are ready to re-wrap and fletch!! The first couple of times it might be a little tricky but once you get the hang of it you will love it!!! Let me know if you need any other help with the Cresting. Good Luck!!